How to breed for a lighter/smaller turkey?

[Backyardchickenlover123]

How can I breed for turkeys that have better flying ability/are lighter in weight

I know most heritage breeds are already decent flyers (at least the hens) but I want to do some experimenting with more "extreme" free ranging,
meaning I would want the birds to pretty much just be light enough to easily be able to get in the trees to sleep instead of a coop.

Would it be as simple as weighing the birds and simply breeding the lightest ones together? Anything specific I would need to do? Seems like wild gobblers don't really exceed 24 pounds so I guess that would be a good weight goal for toms (mostly just trying to have lighter toms that can easily get in trees since I know they can have some trouble flying do to weight)

P.S. this is a project I'll probably start next year.

 

[R2elk]

How can I breed for turkeys that have better flying ability/are lighter in weight

I know most heritage breeds are already decent flyers (at least the hens) but I want to do some experimenting with more "extreme" free ranging,
meaning I would want the birds to pretty much just be light enough to easily be able to get in the trees to sleep instead of a coop.

Would it be as simple as weighing the birds and simply breeding the lightest ones together? Anything specific I would need to do? Seems like wild gobblers don't really exceed 24 pounds so I guess that would be a good weight goal for toms (mostly just trying to have lighter toms that can easily get in trees since I know they can have some trouble flying do to weight)

P.S. this is a project I'll probably start next year.

Having your turkeys roost in trees is a good way to lose them to predators.

Start with Royal Palms and choose the ones that best fit your desired parameters for breeding. You might have better survival success with Bronze turkeys.

 

[Molpet]

My turkeys sleep in the trees. GH owls get a lot of them. Mostly hens and poults...

They even have killed a 4 year old tom. Just ate a piece of neck about the size of my thumb. It was Dec 1st a few years ago

 

[Backyardchickenlover123]

My turkeys sleep in the trees. GH owls get a lot of them. Mostly hens and poults...

They even have killed a 4 year old tom. Just ate a piece of neck about the size of my thumb. It was Dec 1st a few years ago

How often do you loose them to GH owls? and is that there only real threat at night?

 

[R2elk]

How often do you loose them to GH owls? and is that there only real threat at night?

Raccoons and bobcats are also night predators that can take turkeys roosting in trees.

In nesting season the hens are also vulnerable to a multitude of ground predators.

 

[Molpet]

How often do you loose them to GH owls? and is that there only real threat at night?

I loose over half of the poults (15-20), that I can't get in the coop to night predators. Sometimes more.
I lock up 4 jakes so I have something to harvest, hoping 2 more will survive. I eat half a jake a month .

I had a hen with 12 two weeks old at night and in the morning have one. Feet all over the place. So I assume raccoons. Since covid I have gotten over 140 raccoons and about the same in opossums.

Last 2 years coyotes or foxes have gotten every hen that was sitting outside the coop.

 

[Klutch]

It must be a numbers thing, in Norcal in the suburban area these wild turkeys are becoming a nuisance by their ever expanding population. We have every critter and varmint also.

 

[R2elk]

It must be a numbers thing, in Norcal in the suburban area these wild turkeys are becoming a nuisance by their ever expanding population. We have every critter and varmint also.

Wild turkeys have different habits and predator awareness than domestic turkeys.

 

[NatJ]

Would it be as simple as weighing the birds and simply breeding the lightest ones together? Anything specific I would need to do?

One thing to watch out for:
Sickly birds, and birds that get bullied away from the feed, will be lighter than healthy birds that eat as much as they want.

So when selecting the lightest birds for breeding, you want to choose only ones that seem healthy and did get their fair share of feed.

 

[Backyardchickenlover123]

One thing to watch out for:
Sickly birds, and birds that get bullied away from the feed, will be lighter than healthy birds that eat as much as they want.

So when selecting the lightest birds for breeding, you want to choose only ones that seem healthy and did get their fair share of feed.

Yes, Thanks I would definitely watch for that